On the ninth day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces continue to bombard several Ukrainian cities, including Mariupol, Kharkiv and the capital, Kiev and its surroundings.
Since the start of the invasion, Russia has ensured that it has targeted only military targets.
But this information is denied by the Ukrainian authorities, who accuse Russia of targeting public places, such as schools, city centers and residential areas.
In addition, the strikes which caused, on Friday March 4, a fire in the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporijie, located in the south of Ukraine, pushed the Council of Human Rights of the United Nations approved a resolution in favor of an international commission of inquiry into violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) also acted urgently, opening on March 2, at the request of 39 of its States Parties, an investigation into the situation in Ukraine, where Russia is accused of perpetrating war crimes. .
This international court, independent and impartial, tries people accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
>> War in Ukraine: the total commitment of the inhabitants of Kiev in the face of the Russian invasion
"It seems obvious today that war crimes have already been committed by Russian forces against the Ukrainian population and possibly against Ukrainian servicemen. It is for this reason that the ICC has decided to open an investigation ", says William Julie, a lawyer specializing in international criminal law, contacted by France 24.
War crimes, defined and implemented by the Geneva and Hague Conventions, correspond to violations of international law targeting civilians or combatants during a conflict.
According to the UN, a war crime can be constituted by a large number of attacks on persons and thus correspond, in particular, to "murders, attacks on physical integrity or health, rape, intentional attacks against the population civilian property, looting and destruction of civilian property, sometimes indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, in an illicit and arbitrary manner".
For William Julié, there is little doubt about Russia's responsibility: "The fact of bombing schools, homes, civilians without being able to justify that soldiers or military sites were targeted, without being able to justify that it was done in a proportionate manner are acts that potentially constitute war crimes".
Use of illegal ammunition against civilians
In Ukraine, Russian forces are not only accused of attacking civilians, but they are also suspected of using weapons prohibited by international law: cluster bombs (also called cluster bombs).
This weapon is composed of a container (a shell, a rocket or a missile for example) filled with projectiles (known as sub-munitions) which in turn explode once the bomb has exploded.
These bombs are, on the one hand, very sensitive and, on the other hand, by releasing their submunitions, they cover a very wide impact area.
.@bellingcat proves with supporting photos that cluster bombs are used by Russians in Ukraine.
Reminder: these weapons are incompatible with targeted strikes.
They therefore do not prevent civilian casualties.
https://t.co/XoSOehHRm4
— Julien Pain (@JulienPain) March 3, 2022
They therefore do not make it possible to aim at a target precisely.
This is why, according to the NGO Handicap International, "civilians represent 97% of the victims" of these bombs and, specifies the organization, among them, 36% are children.
In addition, still according to Handicap International, "up to 40% of submunitions do not explode when they hit the ground".
Buried underground, they can explode years later.
For all these reasons, the use, manufacture, trade and stockpiling of these weapons are prohibited by the 2010 Oslo Convention.
For William Julié, "the use of this type of weapon in the context of an armed conflict may, in itself, characterize the commission of a war crime insofar as the operation and use of these weapons almost systematically and indiscriminately target civilian populations and cause disproportionate damage".
The use of these weapons by Russia (which has not signed the Oslo Convention, like Ukraine) was also denounced on Friday by the Secretary General of NATO, after revelations , in particular, the NGOs Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and the investigative media Bellingcat.
By conducting investigations, they uncovered the use by Russian forces of cluster bombs in Ukraine since the invasion.
For example, Human Rights Watch, which believes that the use of such weapons "could constitute a war crime", documented their use "in at least three residential areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, on February 28". .
Using satellite images, and drawing on the research of researcher Michael Sheldon,
The use of cluster bombs in #Ukraine would be a #war crime.
These weapons have been banned since 2008. @EydouxT and the @Observers were able to identify and trace the origin of missiles of this type that fell on #Kharkiv pic.twitter.com/xpjYs8xI5e
— FRANCE 24 French (@France24_fr) March 3, 2022
After the NGOs and the media, international justice took the file in hand.
Invited by France 24, ICC Prosecutor General Karim Kahn said that "a field team has set out" to collect evidence.
Collection of testimonies, intensification of the material and the provenance of the projectiles... A long task awaits the investigators.
Especially since the investigation will cover all acts committed in Ukraine "since November 21, 2013", said Karim Kahn.
It would be, according to him, "all past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person".
"Which country would decide to arrest Vladimir Putin?"
Once the evidence has been collected, the judicial machine can begin.
Ukraine has certainly not ratified the Rome Statute, the international treaty that founds the ICC, but has recognized the Court's jurisdiction to try crimes committed on its territory.
For its part, Russia withdrew its signature from the Rome Statute.
But as Karim Kahn pointed out to France 24, "these are acts that take place not in Russia but on Ukrainian territory".
In this context, the ICC judging individuals and not states, "Vladimir Putin could be prosecuted by the ICC, just like his colonels, his army chiefs", if the court gathers sufficient evidence to accuse them of war crimes.
The ICC could then come to consider that the case is strong enough to initiate proceedings and issue international arrest warrants.
“Legally all of this is possible, but the question that arises is: can the arrest warrant be executed? In other words, which country would decide to arrest Vladimir Poutine?” asks William Julie.
Indeed, the ICC is also limited by its lack of a police force and by the discretion of States to arrest suspects present on their soil.
And until today, only one international arrest warrant has been issued against a head of state in office, that against the former president of Sudan, Omar Al-Béchir, wanted in particular for genocide and crimes against humanity during the conflict in Darfur.
Regarding the Oslo Convention on cluster munitions, Russia and Ukraine are not among the signatories.
"This treaty has nevertheless been signed by a significant number of States to date and therefore it has a global value to say that in the international community, a large number of States agree on the fact that these weapons must be prohibited", explains William Julie.
And the lawyer to continue: "The Ukraine and Russia not having signed this convention, there could not be, in my opinion, direct actions brought against one or the other before the International Court Justice", the competent authority to judge violations of the Oslo Convention.
“But on the other hand, it is obvious that the use of these weapons will come under the analysis of the prosecutor or the magistrates of the ICC to characterize war crimes”, he affirms.
With this investigation, the ICC has therefore embarked on a long and painstaking journey, which will surely take years.
But for now, international justice has no other strings to its bow.
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